Fabric treating machine with rotary agitator and hydraulic transmission

ABSTRACT

A FABRIC TREATING MACHINE HAVING A TUB, A ROTATABLE FABRIC CONTAINER AND A ROTARY AGITATOR SUCH AS, FOR EXAMPLE, OF THE OFF-SET SHAFT OR BENT SHAFT TYPE AND A HYDRAULIC TRANSMISSION FOR ROTATING THE AGITATOR FOR A WASHING OPERATION AND FOR ROTATING THE CONTAINER FOR AN EXTRACT-SPIN OPERATION.

H. A. M ANINCH ETAL 3,566,625 FABRIC TREATING MACHINE WITH ROTARY AGITATOR March 2., 1971 AND HYDRAULIC TRANSMI S S ION 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 30, 1969 L in N 1" ATTOQN EV March 2., 1971 MCANINCH ETAL 3,566,625

FABRIC TREATING MACHINE WITH ROTARY AGITATOR AND HYDRAULIC TRANSMISSION FiledJune 30, 1969 I 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 n28 um; D

mw RNW wwm. H w WM? -mm my 5 5 5 Maw A 5 w ATTORN EY March 2, 1971 H. A. MOANINCH ETAL 3,566,625 FABRIC TREATING MACHINE WITH ROTARY AGITATOR AND HYDRAULIC TRANSMISSION Filed June 50, 1969 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS #565527 A. 4/ I/V/A/QV United States Patent O FABRIC TREATING MACHINE WITH ROTARY AGITATOR AND HYDRAULIC TRANSMISSION Herbert A. McAninch, Auburn, Ind., and Herbert N.

Underwood, Chicago, Ill., assignors to Borg-Warner Corporation, Chicago, Ill.

Filed June 30, 1969, Ser. No. 837,804 Int. Cl. D06f 29/00; F16d 33/00 US. Cl. 6823.7 21 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A fabric treating machine having a tub, a rotatable fabric container and a rotary agitator such as, for example, of the off-set shaft or bent shaft type and a hydraulic transmission for rotating the agitator for a washing operation and for rotating the container for an extract-spin operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to fabric treating machines and more particularly to fabric treating machines employing a rotary agitator and being driven by a hydraulic transmission which is adapted to rotate the agitator in a continuous path for a washing operation and to rotate a clothes container for an extract-spin operation.

Fabric treating machines known in the art and adapted to perform both a Washing operation and an extract-spin operation generally fall into one of three basic categories:

(a) Upright clothes containeroscillatory agitator.

(b) Upright clothes containerrotary agitator.

(c) Inclined clothes container (tumble)no agitator.

Prior hydraulic transmissions known in the art have generally been designed only for application to those machines falling in category (a). Such transmissions generally include an independent speed control for both agitator and spin speeds and consist of a hydraulic pump and two hydraulic motors one only of which is operable when the pump is rotated in either direction of rotation. Fabric treating machines of this type are shown in Pats. 3,242,703, 3,334,496 and 3,359,761 and application Ser. No. 648,630 now US. Pat. No. 3,443,381 dated May 13, 1969 of common assignee.

One approach has been developed utilizing a hydraulic pump and one oscillatory hydraulic motor connected to an agitator of the standard oscillatory type and is shown in US. Pat. 3,388,569. The application Ser. No. 671,675 now US. Pat. 3,443,405, dated May 13, 1969 of common assignee shows in addition a means to independently control the operating speed of both agitator and spin basket and further allows the speed of each to be infinitely varied between predetermined limits.

The present invention is directed to providing a hydraulic transmission incorporating independent speed controls for agitator and basket speeds and including a minimum number of operating parts. It is particularly directed to providing a hydraulic transmission for driving a rotary agitator, fabric treating machine of the type shown in US. Pat. 2,902,851 to thereby combine the inherent advantages of a hydraulic transmission with the inherent advantages of the rotary agitator.

Agitators of the rotary type generally effect a tilting or wobbling motion producing circulation of the washing fluid and causing articles being washed to be brought into intimate contact with the turbulent streams of water generated by the moving members. A significant advantage of this type of rotary agitation is the uniform loading of the drive motor which is due to the fact that the load is not varied cyclincally. Further reliability and maintenance free operation result when the need to accelerate and decelerate the agitator for every stroke is eliminated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a hydraulic transmission for an otf-set shaft clothes washer during the agitate cycle embodying the principle of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a modified transmission incorporating a bent shaft type agitator and shows the transmission during the agitate cycle of operation; and

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a modified version of the hydraulic transmission incorporating an off-set shaft agitator during the agitate operation;

FIG. 4 is a section view taken along the lines 4-4 of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1 a fabric treating machine in the form of a Washing machine is illustrated comprising a tub 10 adapted to hold a laundering fluid, a clothes container 11 and a rotary agitator 12. A hydraulic transmission 14 is illustrated for independently driving the clothes basket 11 for effecting a centrifugal drying operation herein referred to as the extract-spin operation and for driving the rotary agitator 12 for effecting a clothes washing operation. The transmission 14 includes a transmission inner housing generally designated as 15.

An electric motor 16 is provided having a water pump 17 driven thereby for recirculating water in the clothes container 11 of the automatic washer. A source of power 18 is illustrated for operating the motor 16. A cycle selector switch 19 is schematically illustrated in simplified form although in a washer installation this function would be performed by a timer switch mechanism of known construction.

Electric leads 21 and 22 interconnect the source of power 18 with the motor 16, the lead 22 being a ground line. Lead 23 connects the source of power 18 to switch mechanism 19. Switch mechanism 19 is connected to the motor by a lead 24 or a lead 26.

The electric motor 16 includes a rotatable drive member 27 which connects the motor to a hydraulic pump 28. The hydraulic pump 28 includes a pumping element 29 and a rotatable pump housing element 30 operative within a fixed case 31. The transmission inner housing generally designated as 15 is attached to or made a part of the pump housing element 30 which is attached to the clothes container 11 as indicated by dotted lines 33 and 34.

Any of a number of well known types of hydraulic pumps would adequately perform the function of the hydraulic pump 28 as, for example, the crescent type or the gerotor type but, for reasons that will be later described, it is found that the vane type pump will perl. form best in the present transmission. For this reason,

the hydraulic pump-28 is illustrated as a vane pump.

The pumping element 29 consists of a rotor 36 connected to a rotatable drive member 27 of the electric motor 16. A rotor 36 contains a series of radial slots 37. A plurality of vanes 38 are provided, each vane adapted to slide within a slot 37.

The rotatable pump housing element 30 consists of an annular disc mounted eccentric to the rotor 36 and is shown drivingly connected to the clothes container 11. A pair of arcuate ports 39 and 41 are formed in the pump housing element 30 for communicating fluid from a fluid sump 42 which is schematically illustrated for convenience at various places in the illustration of the invention, although in the actual construction one fluid sump 42 is provided into which all of the exhaust connections for various elements of the transmission exhaust fluid. The arcuate ports 39 and 41 communicate fluid from the sump 42 to pump 28 and, after the fluid is pressurized, from the pump 28. The ports 39 and 41 will either be inlet ports or exhaust ports depending upon a direction of rotation of electric motor 16 and thereby a direction of rotation of the rotor 36.

Through rotation of the pumping element 29 in a clockwise direction with respect to the pump housing element 30, as viewed in FIG. 1 a first hydraulic circuit is established which will hereinafter be referred to as the agitate circuit. The agitate circuit 40 includes a check valve 43 which allows fluid flow only in a direction from the sump 42 into 28. A fluid conduit 44 is provided to communicate fluid from the sump 42 to port 41 when the agitate circuit 40 is activated. A fluid conduit 46 is provided to conduct fluid from the port 39 to an agitator speed control valve 47. A conduit 48 is provided to communicate fluid from the conduit 46 to the upstream end of a bypass valve 49. A fluid conduit 51 is provided to communicate fluid from the speed control valve 47 to a rotary hydraulic motor 52. A fluid conduit 53 is provided to communicate fluid from the rotary hydraulic motor 52 to sump 42. A fluid conduit 54 is provided to connect bypass valve 49 to pilot relief 56. A fluid conduit 57 is provided to connect conduit 51 and a basket lock device 58. A fluid conduit 59 is provided to connect conduit 51 with the downstream side of the bypass valve 49.

The agitator speed control valve 47 comprises a chamber 71 defined by the transmission housing 15. A valve member 72 is adapted to slide axially within the cham ber 71 and has a tapered section 73 including a small end 74 and a large end 75. A cylindrical rod 77 con centric with the valve member 72 extends from the small end 74 of the tapered section 73 outside of the housing 15. Immediately adjacent the large end is a pilot section 78 of essentially the same diameter as large end 75.

As shown in FIG. 4 a pair of grooves 79' and 80 are provided in the pilot section 78 for the purpose of communicating fluid to act against an end 81 of the pilot section 78. The tapered section 73 coacts within edge 83 of the housing 15 to define a variable orifice 84 through which fluid is communicated to the outlets of the agitator speed control valve 47. A spring 85 acts against the end of the pilot section to bias the valve member 72 to the left as shown in FIG. 1.

An agitator speed control mechanism 87 is provided to vary the position of the valve member 72 and thereby vary the area of the orifice 84. The speed control mechanism 87 includes a control lever 88 suitably attached to cam 89 and adapted to rotate the cam according to a setting of the control lever 88. A lever arm 90 is provided pivoted about an axis 91 having an end 92 biased to contact the cam 89 by a spring 94. The outer end 95 of lever arm 90 is adapted to contact a cylindrical rod 77 and thereby selectively vary the position of valve 72 in response to positioning of the control lever 88.

The bypass valve 49 includes a valve member 96 acting within a bore 97 defined by the housing 15. An annular chamber 98 in the bore 97 coacts with an edge 99 of the spool valve 96 to define a variable orifice in fluid communication with sump 42. The valve member 96 has an end face 95 against which fluid pressure in the upstream end acts and an end face 100 against which fluid pressure in the downstream end acts. A spring 86 is provided in the downstream end of bore 97 to urge valve member 96 toward the upstream end of bore 97.

The relief valve 56 is provided in communication with bore 97 to serve as a safety valve by connecting the bore 97 to sump in case of extreme pressure build up in the agitator motor supply conduit 51.

A rotary hydraulic motor 52 is shown in FIG. 1 as being of the gerotor type although other fluid motors could also be used. A rotary motor 52 includes an outer rotor 101 and an inner rotor 102. The outer rotor 101 defines recesses 103 therein adapted to receive teeth 104 which form a part of the inner rotor 102. Fluid pressure is admitted during the agitate cycle to conduit 51 and in a known manner will act in the fluid chamber between the teeth 104 of the inner rotor and the recesses 103 of the outer rotor to spin the outer and inner rotors as fluid pressure is received. Conduit 53 is the exhaust fluid connection for the rotary hydraulic motor.

The inner rotor 102 is drivingly connected to a shaft 106 which in turn is connected to the rotary agitator 12.

The rotary agitator 12 shown in FIG. 1 is of the oilset shaft type and includes a vertical upper portion 108 laterally displaced from and eccentrically disposed 'with respect to a vertically extending base portion 107 and an intermediate member 109 perpendicular to both the vertical upper portion 108 and the vertical base portion 107 and connecting said upper and base portions one to another.

The basket lock device 58 is attached to the pump housing element 30 and consists of a piston member 111 adapted to slide within a bore 112 in response to fluid pressure. The piston member 111 includes a land section 113 and a pin section 114. A pin section 114 is adapted to contact an indent 115 defined in the fixed case 31 to prevent rotation of the pump housing element 30 and thereby prevent rotation of the clothes container 11 as will hereinafter be described.

Fluid will be communicated to act on either a top side 117 or a bottom side 118 of the land section 113 depending on the direction of rotation of electric motor 16.

Upon rotation of the pumping element 29 in a counterclockwise direction with respect to the pump housing element 30, as viewed in FIG. 1, a second hydraulic circuit 120 is established which will be hereinafter referred to as the spin circuit. The spin circuit 120 includes a check valve 121 which allows fluid flow only in a direction from the sump 42 into the pump 28. A fluid conduit 122 is provided to communicate fluid from sump 42 to port 39 when the spin circuit is activated. A fluid conduit 123 is provided to conduct fluid from port 41 to a first fluid inlet 125 of a restricting means here shown as a spin speed control valve 124. A fluid conduit 126 communicates fluid from conduit 123 to a spin-up relief valve 127. A fluid conduit 128 interconnects the fluid conduit 123 and the basket lock device 58. A fluid conduit 129 communicates fluid from the conduit 128 to a second fluid inlet 130 of the restricting means 124. A fluid conduit 131 communicates fluid from the restricting means 124 to sump 42. A fluid conduit 133 communicates fluid from conduit 123 to a spin brake 134.

Restricting means or spin speed control valve 124 includes a valve member 135 having a uniformly tapered section 136 acting within a bore 138 formed in the housing 15. The tapered section 136 coacts with an annular chamber 139 in communication with the fluid inlet 125 to define a variable orifice 140 through which fluid is communicated from the pump 28 to sump 42.

A spin speed control mechanism 87a is provided to selectively vary the position of the valve member 135 and thereby vary the area of the orifice 140. The spin speed control mechanism 87a is similar in design and operation to the agitator speed control mechanism 87, like numbers with the addition of suflix a being used to designate like components.

The spin-up relief valve 127 is essentially a pressure relief valve and consists of an orifice 143 defined by the housing 15 which admits fluid to a chamber 144 also formed in the housing 15.

A tapered valve member 146 acts within the chamber 144 and is biased to close the orifice 143 by a resilient member here shown as a spring 147. A fluid outlet 148 serves to communicate the chamber 144 with sump 42.

The spin brake 134 includes a piston 152 acting within a chamber 153 in response to fluid pressure supplied from the hydraulic pump 28 through the conduit 133. Biasing means here shown as a spring 155 are provided urging the piston 152 toward the right side of the chamber 153 is seen in FIG. 1. A brake band 157 is shown having one end 158 inserted in a slot 159 in the piston 152 and another end 160 inserted in a slot 161 in the housing element 30. The brake band 157 is shown encircling pump housing element 30 one and a half times although it is obvious that other arrangements would be acceptable. The brake band 157 is adapted to contact the fixed case 31 throughout an inner circumference when activated to retard relative rotation between the rotatable pump housing element 30 of the hydraulic pump 28 and the fixed case 31.

The operation of the fabric treating machine as shown in FIG. 1 and previously described herein is as follows: the timer for cycle selector switch of the automatic washer schematically represented by switch 19 will select either the wash or spin cycle for the hydraulic transmission.

When electric motor 16 is activated in either direction of rotation the pumping element 29 Will also rotate, its speed of rotation corresponding to the speed of rotation of the rotatable drive member 27. After the first revolution of the pumping element 29 the vanes 38 will be disposed within their corresponding slots 37 out of contact with the pump housing element 30 effecting a zero output of the pump 28 since no pumping action is taking place. At a predetermined rotational speed the vanes will be urged to move radially outward by centrifugal force to contact the pump housing element 30 thereby initiating a pumping action. The desired rotational speed at which pumping becomes effective can be achieved by properly designing the geometry of the rotor and the vane. The Ohvious results of using this particular type of hydraulic pump is that it enables the electric motor to 'build up sufficient speed before imposing a load on it. This allows use of a more economical split phase motor rather than a more expensive capacitive start motor or an induction motor.

If the agitate cycle is selected, the pump 28 supplies fluid pressure to the first or agitate hydraulic circuit 40. Conduit 46 communicates the fluid from the port 39 to the agitator speed control valve 47. Fluid then enters the chamber 71. The position of cam 89 will determine the size of the orifice 84 between the tapered section 73 of the valve member 72 and edge 83.

Fluid leaves the chamber 71 via conduit 51 at a pressure lower than the pressure of the fluid which enters the chamber 71 in accordance with the principle well known in the art whereby a pressure drop will result when fluid flows through a control orifice.

Fluid leaving chamber 71 is communicated to the rotary hydraulic motor 52 through conduit 51 to drive the agitator 12 of the washing machine. Fluid is also communicated to basket lock 58 through conduit 57 and acts against the bottom side 118 of piston member 111 urging the piston member into locking engagement with the indent 115 and fixed case 31 thereby preventing rotation of the clothes container 11 in the agitate cycle.

In the absence of bypass valve 49, it would be obvious that the variation in size of orifice 84 would have little effect on the speed of the rotary hydraulic motor. The speed of the rotary hydraulic motor 52 is directly proportional to the volume of fluid supplied to it per unit time. Using a constant displacement pump, the effect of reducing the size of orifice 84 would be to increase the average velocity of fluid across the orifice, the volume flow per unit time remaining essentially unchanged.

Fluid pressure is admitted to the upstream end of bore 97 from conduit 48 to act against end face 95 of the valve member 96 to urge the valve member 96 upwardly allowiug some of the fluid in the upstream end of bore 97 to escape to sump. It is evident from FIG. 1 that the pressure of fluid supplied to the upstream end is substantially the same as the pressure of fluid supplied to orifice 84.

Fluid at the lower pressure is admitted to the downstream end of bore 97 from conduit 59 to act against end face 100 of the valve member 96 which has the same area as end face 95. This force acts in cooperation with the force of the spring 86 to bias the valve member 96 to the bottom of the bore 97 thereby restricting the flow of fluid from the upstream end to sump 42.

It can now be seen that the characteristics of the spring 86 determine the value of the pressure drop across the orifice 84. The pressure drop for any given size orifice is dependent upon the volume of fluid passed through the orifice per unit time. As the volume flow through the orifice increases, the resulting pressure drop across the orifice will also increase. The converse is also true.

If for a range of orifice sizes the desired pressure drop is, for example, 10 p.s.i., a spring will be chosen with characteristics such that it will exert a force equal to that exerted by a pressure of 10 p.s.i. against the area of end face of valve member 96. It is understood, of course, that the variation of spring force due to compression of the spring is negligible due to the small displacements involved and a low spring constant. For the bypass valve 49 to open the pressure of the fluid entering upstream end of bore 97 must exceed the pressure of the fluid entering the downstream end by at least 10 p.s.i. If the pressure differential, hence the pressure drop across the orifice 84, is greater than 10 p.s.i., the bypass valve will open wider allowing a greater volume of fluid to be bypassed to sump. The volume of fluid through, hence the pressure drop across the orifice 84 will therefore be reduced until the pressure differential equals 10 p.s.i. at which point the system will be in equilibrium.

If the pressure differential is less than 10 p.s.i., the spring force plus the pressure force on end face 100 of the valve member 96 will exceed the force on the end face 95 causing the valve member 96 to close until the pressure differential reaches equilibrium at 10 p.s.i.

Thus, it has been shown that with the selection of the proper spring the pressure drop across the orifice 84 can be held to the same predetermined value over a range of orifice sizes. Making use of this principle, it has been further shown that by varying the size of the orifice 84, which is accomplished by varying the orientation of the cam 89, the volume of fluid per unit time passing through the orifice 84 and delivered to the agitator motor may be varied, the speed of the agitator motor increasing as the flow increases.

If the spin cycle is selected, the pump 28 supplies fluid pressure to the second hydraulic circuit or spin circuit. Conduit 123 communicates the fluid to bore 138 to act against valve urging it in contact with lever arm 90a. Fluid is communicated from conduit 128 to chamber 139 of restricting means 124 by conduit 129 and flows from chamber 139 to sump 42 through the variable orifice 140.

By restricting the flow of fluid from chamber 139 to sump 42, we effectively restrict the output of the hydraulic pump 28 which creates a reaction torque on the rotatable pump housing element 30 inducing a rotation of the pump housing element 30 and, through its previously described connection, the clothes container 11 connected thereto. It can now be seen that by varying the position of valve member 135, We vary the area of orifice 140 and thereby vary the flow of fluid through orifice 140 to sump. The smaller the orifice 140 the less fluid is allowed to pass to sump and the more nearly the rotational speed of the pump housing element 30 approaches the speed of the pumping element 29. The difference in rotational speed between the pump housing element 30 and the pumping element 29 is accounted for mainly by the fluid allowed to leak to sump. If the valve member 135 were to completely close off communication between the outlet of the pump 28 and sump 42 and assuming zero leakage in the spin circuit, the rotational speed of both elements would be substantially the same, the hydraulic fluid becoming trapped in the circuit. The net flow output of the pump would be Zero since there would be no relative rotation between the pumping elements.

If valve member 135 was now moved to allow a slight fluid flow from pump 28 to sump 42, this would allow a slight relative rotation between the elements. Since the rotational speed of pumping element 29 is substantially constant and determined by the speed of electric motor 16 to which it is attached, the result will be a decrease in the rotational speed of the pump housing element 30 and correspondingly a decrease in rotational speed of clothes container 11.

As the area of orifice 140 increases, the flow from pump 28 to sump increases allowing more relative rotation between the elements and slower speed for clothes container 11. When the valve member 135 is positioned such that it offers virtually no resistance to the fluid flow between pump and sump, we reach the point of minimum rotational speed of the clothes container 11. The reaction on the pump housing element 30 at this time is solely due to the viscous drag between the pump elements.

Thus it has been shown that the speed of clothes container 11 can be infinitely varied between a predetermined minimum and maximum speed by varying the restriction in the output of the hydraulic pump. A spin speed range of from 450 rpm. to 900 r.p.m. has been found to be adequate for most applications.

When the spin cycle is initiated, the torque required to accelerate the clothes container 11 and the wet clothes contained therein from a position initially at rest up to a desired rotational speed is initially quite high. This high starting torque results in a relatively high pressure in the spin fluid circuit. The spin-up relief 127 is set to open at a predetermined pressure bypassing some of the output of hydraulic pump 21 to sump until the clothes container 11 has attained a sutficient velocity and the inertia of the standing basket and clothes has been overcome. The torque now required to rotate the clothes container 11 is considerably less and the pressure in the spin circuit correspondingly decreases allowing the spin-up relief 127 to close and further allowing restricting means 124 to maintain control over the rotational speed of the clothes container 11.

When the spin cycle has been completed and the cycle selector switch has been automatically switched to off, the electric motor will stop spinning almost instantaneously, thereby stopping rotation of the pumping element 30. Absent some provision for a spin brake, the clothes container and clothes would tend to continue spinning and the only forces acting to decelerate the container would be the viscous drag between the pump elements and the efiects of friction.

When the pumping element 29 ceases rotation, the conduit 133 is no longer pressurized and the spring 155 forces piston 152 to the right causing the brake band 157 to contact the inner face of fixed case 31 around substantially the entire inner circumference. This contact between the rotating brake band 157 and the fixed case 31 serves to rapidly decelerate the rotation of the pump housing element 30 and the clothes basket 11 connected thereto.

FIG. 2 illustrates a modification of the transmission shown in FIG. 1 and includes a rotary agitator 165 of the bent shaft type. The rotary agitator 165 includes a vertical base portion 166 connected to the shaft 106 which in turn is connected to the inner rotor 102. An intermediate portion 167 is connected to the vertical base portion 166 and is disposed at an acute angle from the vertical portion. An upper portion 168 is connected to the intermediate portion 167 and disposed at an angle from the vertical.

Disposed between the container 11 and the pump housing element 30 is a one-way driving means 170. The oneway driving means includes an outer element 171 connecting the container 11 and the pump housing element 30. The one-way driving means 170 further includes an inner element 172 connected to the shaft 106 which shaft connects the rotary agitator to the rotary hydraulic motor. Engaging means 173 which form a part of the one way driving means 170 are disposed between outer element 171 and inner element 172. The arrangement is such that during the spin cycle of operation when the pump housing element 30 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction of rotation, as viewed from the top in FIG. 2, the fabric container 11 and the outer element 171 of one-way driving means 170 will also be rotated in a counterclockwise manner due to their connection with pump housing element 30. The one-Way driving means 170 will lock the shaft 106 and correspondingly the rotary agitator to rotate with the fabric container 11.

The one-way driving means is further operative such that during the agitate or wash cycle of operation the inner element 172 is allowed to rotate freely in a counterclockwise direction as viewed from thetop of FIG. 2 with no driving engagement existing between the inner element 172 and the outer element 171.

Restraining means 175 are provided in the connection 34 between the one-way driving means 170 and the pump housing element 30. The restraining means 175 is positioned so as to be contacted by the basket lock device 58. The basket lock 58 is operable such that during the agitate cycle of operation the piston member 113 will be activated by fluid pressure to contact both restraining means 175 and indent 115 to lock the outer element 171 of one-way driving means 170. The clothes container 11 is thereby locked to tub 10 and fixed case 31 preventing any rotation of the container 11 with the rotary agitator 165 which rotation if allowed would detract from the effectiveness of the washing operation.

The operation of the fabric treating machine illustrated in FIG. 2 is similar to the operation previously described of the fabric treating machine shown in FIG. 1. For agitator action the electric motor 16 is actuated to run the hydraulic pump 28 clockwise as viewed in FIG. 2. This causes the inlet check 43 to open, drawing fluid from the sump 42 t0 the pump 28. The agitate hydraulic circuit 40 on the left of the pump 28 is pressurized. The fluid under pressure acts on the upstream side of the bypass valve 49 and on the high pressure side of the agitator speed control valve 47.

After the working fluid passes through the agitator speed control valve 47, the pressure acts on the downstream side of the bypass valve 49 and then acts on basket lock device 58 and the rotary hydraulic spin motor 52. The function of the bypass valve 49 is to keep the pressure drop across the agitator speed control valve fixed, thus the flow will vary directly as the size of the orifice 84.

The agitator speed control mechanism 87 will control the size of the orifice 84, a larger orifice resulting in a relatively high agitator rotation speed and a smaller orifice 84 resulting in a relatively low agitator rotation speed. The basket lock device 58 prevents movement of the pump housing element 30 and clothes container 11 during the wash cycle.

For spin action the electric motor 16 is actuated to run the hydraulic pump 28 counterclockwise as viewed in FIG. 2. This causes the check valve 121 located on the left to open drawing fluid from the sump 42 to the pump 28. The spin hydraulic circuit 120 located to the right of the pump 28 is then pressurized. The fluid under pressure acts against the top portion of the basket lock device 58 to unlock the clothes container 11 and the pump housing element 30 from the washer frame. The fluid pressure also acts on the brake piston 152 to disengage the spin brake 134 and thus completely free the pump housing element 30 from the washer frame and permit spin action.

The pressure acts on the spin-up relief valve 127 to limit the maximum fluid pressure in the spin hydraulic circuit 120. The fluid under pressure acts on one side of the restricting means 124, the other side of the restricting means 124 being connected to the sump 42. The spin action results from restriction of the flow from the pump. If the variable orifice 140 is physically small then the pump housing element 30 and clothes container 11 will be dragged around by the pumping element 29 at a relatively high speed. Accordingly, if the variable orifice 140 is physically large then the pump housing element 30 and clothes container 11 will be lightly dragged around by the pumping element 29 at a low speed. The one-way driving means 170 will cause the bent shaft rotary agitator 165 to be locked to the clothes container 11 during spin thereby preventing damage to the fabric which could result from a relative rotation between the agitator and the clothes container thereby subjecting the clothes to a shearing force. The likelihood of such damage occurring is greatly increased when either an offset shaft or bent shaft agitator is used as opposed to the use of a conventional agitator.

Anytime the electric motor 16 is not actuated to rotate in the spin direction, the spin brake 134 is actuated and is effective to stop spin action.

FIG. 3 illustrates a modified form of the drive arrangement shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and eliminates the use of a rotary hydraulic motor and one set of speed controls. The agitator 12 shown is of the off-set shaft type but any type of rotary agitator could be used. The agitator 12 is connected to a shaft 180 for rotation therewith. The shaft 180 is connected to the pump housing element 30 by any conventional method. This connection is shown schematically at 181 and 182 in FIG. 3. A one-way driving means 170 is provided similar to the driving means shown in FIG. 2. The outer element 171 is connected to both the fabric container 11 and the basket lock device 58.

Agitator speed control mechanism 87 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 is entirely eliminated. Also eliminated are the agitator speed control valve 47, a bypass valve 49 and a rotary hydraulic motor 52.

A conduit 183 provides a fluid connection between the port 39 and a shuttle valve 185. The conduit 186 connects the check valve 121 to the conduit 183 thereby placing the check valve in fluid communication with the port 39. A conduit 187 connects the conduit 183 to the basket lock device 58. The shuttle valve 185 consists of a movable piston 188 slidably disposed within a cylinder 190. A pair of fluid inlets 191 and 192 are provided at either end of the cylinder 190. A fluid outlet 193 is provided in fluid communication with the cylinder 190 and disposed toward the middle of the cylinder.

A conduit 195 provides a fluid connection between the port 40 of the hydraulic pump 28 and the fluid inlet 192 of the shuttle valve 185. A conduit 196 connects the check valve 43 with the conduit 195 thereby connecting the check valve 43 to the port 50. A conduit 197 connects the conduit 195 with the upper portion of the basket lock device 58. A conduit 198 connects the fluid outlet 193 of the shuttle valve 185 to the restricting means 124.

The operation of the transmission illustrated in FIG. 3 dilfers from the operation of either of those illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 in that in the embodiment of FIG. 3 both agitate and spin employ the same principle as the spin operation illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. One set of controls is used to set both agitate and spin to further simplify the design. A speed setting for the agitate cycle will apply for the spin cycle unless the setting is changed between the wash and spin portions of the cycle.

For agitation action the motor 16- is actuated to run the hydraulic pump 28 clockwise as viewed in FIG. 3. This causes the inlet check 43 to open drawing fluid from the sump 42 to the port 40. The lines 183 and 187 are then pressurized. The pressurized fluid actuates the basket lock 58 to lock the fabric container 11 to the tub and prevent rotation of the fabric container. A shuttle Valve 185 is operative such that when pressurized fluid is admitted to the cylinder 190 the piston 188 is forced to move to the right as viewed in FIG. 3 establishing fluid communication between the conduits 183 and 198. Pressurized fluid then flows to the brake 134, the restricting means 124 and the relief valve 127.

The pressure acts on the brake piston 152 to disengage the brake and thus completely free housing element 30 and the agitator connected to it from the fixed case 31 and permits washing action. The fluid pressure acts on the relief valve 127 to limit the maximum fluid pressure in the conduit 198. Fluid under pressure flows through the restricting means 124 which in turn is connected to the sump 42.

The washing action is the result of the restriction of the flow from the hydraulic pump 28 which induces rotation of the pump housing element 30 and the shaft 180 and agitator 12 connected thereto. If the variable orifice is physically a small opening then the pump housing and agitator will be dragged around by the pumping element 29 at a relatively high speed. Similarly if the variable orifice 140 is physically a large opening then the pump housing will only be lightly dragged around by the pumping element resulting in a relatively low agitator speed.

The one-way driving means is oriented in a direction such that free rotation of the shaft and the inner element 172 is permitted in the clockwise direction without engaging the outer element 171.

As soon as the wash cycle is completed and the hydraulic pump 28 ceases to supply pressurized fluid to the conduit 133 the piston 152 will be moved to the right as shown in FIG. 3 and the brake band 157 will engage the fixed case 31 braking the pump housing element 30 and the rotary agitator 12 to a halt.

For spin the electric motor 16 is actuated to run the hydraulic pump 28 in a counterclockwise direction of rotation as viewed in FIG. 3. This causes the check valve 121 to open drawing fluid from the sump 42 to the port 39. The lines 195 and 197 then become pressurized. The pressurized fluid unlocks basket lock 58. When pressure fluid is admitted to the fluid inlet 192 of the shuttle valve it acts against the piston 188 to slide it to the left as viewed in FIG. 3 thereby placing the conduits and 198 in fluid communication. Pressurized fluid then flows to restricting means 124, fbrake 134 and relief valve 147.

The pressure acts on the brake piston 152 to disengage the brake and thus completely free the pump housing element 30 from the fixed case 31 and permits spin action.

The operation of the spin action is similar to the wash action previously described except that the pump housing element rotates in the opposite direction of rotation.

The one-way driving means 170 is disposed such that when the shaft 180 and the inner element 172 connected thereto are rotated in the counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 3 by virtue of their connection with pump housing element 30, the engaging means 173 acts to form a driving engagement between the inner element 172 and the outer element 171. This driving engagement results in the rotation of clothes container 11 and agitator 12 through their mutual connection with the pump housing element 30.

-As soon as the spin cycle is completed and the hydraulic pump 28 ceases to supply pressurized fluid to the conduit 133, a piston 152 will be moved to the right as shown in FIG. 3 and the brake band 157 will engage the fixed case 31 braking the pump housing element 30 and the rotary agitator 12 to a halt. The clothes container 11 will be allowed to free wheel for a short time until it comes to a halt.

What is claimed is:

1. A fabric-treating machine which performs a Washing operation and a centrifugal extraction operation; a fabric container; a rotary agitator disposed within said fabric container; a positive displacement hydraulic pump including a pump housing element connected to said container and a pumping element; drive means connected to said pumping element; a rotary hydraulic motor associated with said hydraulic pump and connected to said rotary agitator; means for selectively restricting the flow of fluid from said pump to induce rotation of said pump housing element and said container attached thereto to effect said centrifugal extraction operation.

2. A fabric-treating machine as in claim 1 including speed control means associated with said flow restricting means operative to vary the restriction of said flow thereby varying the speed of rotation of said container.

3. A fabric-treating machine as in claim 1 in which said rotary agitator includes a base portion connected to said rotary hydraulic motor, an intermediate portion connected to said base portion disposed at an acute angle from the vertical and an upper portion connected to said intermediate portion disposed at an angle from the vertical.

4. A fabric-treating machine as in claim 1 in Which said rotary agitator comprises a vertical base portion connected to said rotary hydraulic motor, a vertical upper portion laterally displaced from and eccentrically disposed with respect to said base portion, an intermediate member connecting said base portion and said upper portion.

5. A fabric-treating machine adapted to perform a washing operation and a centrifugal extraction operation including a fabric container; a rotary agitator disposed within said fabric container; an electric motor having a rotatable drive member; a positive discplacement hydraulic pump including a pumping element connected to said drive member and a pump housing element connected to said container; a first hydraulic circuit associated with said hydraulic pump in the extraction operation operative during rotation of said pump in one direction; a second hydraulic circuit associated with said hydraulic pump in the Washing operation operative during rotation of said pump in the other direction; a rotary hydraulic motor in fluid communicaton with said second circuit driven by said hydraulic pump during said washing operation and connected to said rotary agitator; means in said first hydraulic circuit for selectively restricting the flow of fluid from said pump to induce rotation of said pump housing element and said fabric container attached thereto.

6. A fabric-treating machine as in claim 5 including speed control means associated with said restricting means operative to vary the position of said restricting means thereby varying the speed of rotation of said container.

7. A fabric-treating machine as in claim 5 in which said rotary hydraulic motor is a variable speed motor and including valve means in said second hydraulic circuit disposed between said hydraulic pump and said hydraulic motor adapted to vary the fluid flow to said motor thereby varying the speed of said motor.

8. A fabric-treating machine as in claim 5 in which said rotary agitator includes a base portion connected to said rotary hydraulic motor, an intermediate portion connected to said base portion disposed at an acute angle from the vertical, and an upper portion connected to said intermediate portion disposed at an angle from the vertical.

9. A fabric-treating machine as in claim 5 in which said rotary agitator comprises a vertical base portion connected to said rotary hydraulic motor, a vertical upper portion laterally displaced from and eccentrically disposed with respect to said base portion, an intermediate member connecting said base portion and said upper portion.

10. A hydraulic transmission for fabric-treating machines adapted to perform a washing operation and a centrifugal drying operation including a fabric container; a rotary agitator disposed within said fabric container; an electric motor having a rotatable drive member; a posi- Cit tive displacement hydraulic pump including a pumping element connected to said drive member and a pump housing element; a rotary hydraulic motor associated with said hydraulic pump and connected to said rotary agitator; one-way driving means operatively disposed between said rotary agitator and said fabric container, said oneway driving means oriented such that rotation of said fabric container in one direction results in a corresponding rotation of said rotary agitator; means for selectively restricting the flow of fluid from said pump to induce rotation of said pump housing element and said oneway driving means and container attached thereto.

11. A hydraulic transmission for fabric-treating machines as in claim 10 in which said one-way driving means is connected to said fabric container and to said pump housing element.

12. A hydraulic transmission for fabric-treating Inachines as in claim 10 including speed control means associated with said flow restricting means operative to vary the restriction of said flow thereby varying the speed of rotation of said container.

13. A hydraulic transmission for fabric-treating machines as in claim 10 in which said rotary agitator includes a base portion connected to said rotary hydraulic motor, an intermediate portion connected to said base portion disposed at an acute angle from the vertical and an upper portion connected to said intermediate portion disposed at an angle from the vertical.

14. A hydraulic transmission for fabric-treating machines as in claim 10 in which said rotary agitator comprises a vertical base portion connected to said rotary hydraulic motor, a vertical upper portion laterally displaced from and eccentrically disposed with respect to said base portion and an intermediate member connecting said base portion and said upper portion.

15. A hydraulic transmission for fabric-treating machines adapted to perform a washing operation and a centrifugal extraction operation including a fabric container; a rotary agitator disposed within said fabric container; driving means; a positive displacement hydraulic pump including a pumping element connected to said driving means and a pump housing element connected to said rotary agitator; a one-Way torque transfer means disposed between said fabric container and said rotary agitator such that rotation of said rotary agitator in one direction results in a corresponding rotation of said fabric container; means for selectively restricting the flow of fluid from said pump to induce rotation of said pump housing element and said rotary agitator connected thereto.

16. A hydraulic transmission for fabric-treating machines as in claim 15 in which said one-way torque transfer means is connected to said fabric container.

17. A hydraulic transmission for fabric-treating machines as in claim 15 including speed control means associated with said flow restricting means operative to vary the restriction to said flow thereby varying the speed of rotation of said agitator in either direction.

18. A hydraulic transmission for fabric-treating machines as in claim 15 in which said rotary agitator includes a base portion connected to said pump housing element, an intermediate portion connected to said base portion disposed at an acute angle from the vertical and an upper portion connected to said intermediate portion disposed at an angle from the vertical.

19. A hydraulic transmission for fabric-treating machines as in claim 15 in which said rotary agitator comprises a vertical base portion connected to said pump housing element, a vert ical upper portion laterally displaced from and eccentrically disposed with respect to said base portion, an intermediate member connecting said base portion and said upper portion.

20. A hydraulic transmission for fabric-treating machines as in claim 15 including first and second ports operatively associated with said positive displacement hydraulic pump whereby said first port operates as an outlet port and said second port as an inlet port for one direc tion of rotation of said pumping element and said first port operates as an inlet and said second port operates as an outlet in the reverse direction of rotation.

21. A hydraulic transmission for fabric-treating machines as in claim 20 including shuttle valve means in fluid communication with said first and second ports and with said flow restricting means whereby said shuttle valve means operates to connect whichever of said first and second ports is operating as an outlet port to said flow restricting means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 12/1967 Underwood et al. 6053 1/1968 Haas et a1 60-53 5/1969 Underwood et al. 60-53 5/1969 McAninch et al. 6823.7

US. Cl. X.R. 

